The CEO of Marks Electrical Group, the Leicester-based online electrical retailer, is “proud” of its performance, as the firm achieved record revenue for the year ended 31 March 2024.
According to a new trading update, revenue grew to £114.3m from £97.8m in the year prior, representing a growth rate of 16.9%, and more than double the revenue the business achieved in the year prior to its listing (£56m).
The firm has also seen increased market share in the Major Domestic Appliances and Consumer Electronics markets, though with consumers highly price-conscious in the current trading environment an adverse impact is being felt on average order value, resulting in customer order volumes growing faster than revenue.
As Marks Electrical continues to build its scale, it decided to leave the Euronics buying group as of 31 March 2024. It noted that this will enable the group to establish closer, direct relationships with its manufacturer partners, which will provide further opportunity to drive growth and margin in the future.
Mark Smithson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am proud of the revenue growth we have achieved of 16.9%, in a flat Major Domestic Appliances and a declining Consumer Electronics market. In addition, the investments we have made in driver training and customer services have resulted in us improving our Trustpilot rating from 4.8 to 4.9, further demonstrating the strength and attractiveness of our market-leading customer offering and the hard-work all of our colleagues throughout FY24.
“As we focus on positioning our business to deliver long-term growth and value creation, our decision to exit the Euronics buying group represents the next logical step in that journey, further building on the direct relationships we have with our brand partners. We anticipate that our departure will lead to revenue and margin upside in the medium-term and in addition, once the exit has concluded, our £1.7m balance sheet investment crystallises into cash, expected in June 2024.
“As explained in our January trading update, in the current trading environment consumers remain highly price-conscious, which given our premium focus, continues to have an adverse impact on our average order value, resulting in customer order volumes growing faster than revenue. This impact will limit our ability for margin expansion in the short-term, when taking into account the relatively fixed cost of delivery.
“Despite this, we are very pleased with the growth in our order volumes and new customer acquisitions during the period and the strong growth we have seen in early April, giving us confidence that our fundamental strategy of continued profitable market share gains and excellent customer service will help us in delivering further growth.”
